Steps in the Right and Wrong Directions
by SabastianScott
Summary: Step One- Go to bed while pissed at narcissistic boss Step Two- Have psychic dream of said boss's twin brother's death Step Three- ? Step Four- Somehow end up saving said twin brother from dying, possibly going into the past to do so Step Five- ?
1. Chapter 1

**Just so you know, I didn't originally intend to stretch this out, buuuuuuuuut….**

**Well…..**

**I can't update Blind.**

**Let me explain—I currently am still on the anime, which means I have to watch through it AND write at the same time. I do this by pulling up an episode on my iPod and proceeding from there, pausing and going back and rewatching/listening a few (hundred) times for roughly every ten seconds. Right now though, my iPod kinda just… stopped. I came home from a place, listening to my iPod through my car speakers. I toss jacket with iPod in it as well as my phone into my room like usual, do some stuff real quick, etc. I try to turn on iPod to check emails. Nothing. Nada. Blank screen. My home button has been stuck for months so I can't reset or force it into recovery mode, and contacting Apple is on the 'Things that freak me out that probably shouldn't but do anyway' and I already had to replace my first iPod a year or so ago and I have no idea if my warranty is out or not…. And since I don't live on my own juuuuust yet, I still have to tell my guardians.**

**So, either I will A-get a fixed/new iPod and possibly be grounded for, like, ever, B-I will get mad magician skills and fix it, or C-I'll ignore it by writing this for a while, until I gather my meager courage to go talk to some (somewhat moody) old people. **

**Unfortunately, this means Blind won't have updates for a while—unless I can set up a new system. Not hiatus or anything, goodness no, just a setback that you guys are actually informed about for once (crap like this is somewhat normal for me, unfortunately). **

**It was then that I figured that I didn't want to do more sucky update schedules, trying to make a normality of writing for myself, if you will. So, since a few of guys expressed interest, I decided to try to write for this story instead.**

**(Anyone else have a hard time deciding between 'man' and 'boy' or 'woman' and 'girl' when describing teens? Just a thought. Also, this won't be all that long, and will vary from the thing I already have, so that thing will stay up still.)**

**With that said, I hope you enjoy!**

_**STEPS**_

My nightclothes scratched against my back as I turned in the bed, trying to simultaneously shove my sheets off of me while also keeping them on. It felt warmer in here than necessary, and I really just wanted to go out and scream or something but I was so totally exhausted that it wasn't even an actual option from the start.

I blame Naru. If I can't fall asleep at all, it's totally his fault when I'm tired tomorrow. If I feel too warm to sleep under what-should-be-comfortable-but-now-feel-scratchy sheets in my rented bed then that's also his fault.

It's his fault.

Damn secrets.

I'm his assistant. He could have at least given me a damn hint that he was Oliver Davis.

Sure, his alias Kazuya Shibuya is a really obvious fake, but I'm also obviously an idiot and he _still_ hired me so ha!

Maybe if it was only his whole entire 'I'm secretly a famous paranormal researcher with crazy insane powers and I have a doctorate unlike you peasants' thing I wouldn't be so upset.

Annoyed and irritated, yes. Sleepless? Probably not. At least, not for this long.

No, not only he Oliver Davis, doctor-of-bad-aliases, but he is also Oliver Davis, identical twin to a certain 'dream figment' that, as it turns out, is totally real.

Damn psychics.

Why did I not run while I had the chance? I could have just rejected Naru's offer and worked at another tea shop that _hopefully_ wouldn't have shut down. But no. His eyes were pretty.

Stupid emotions. Stupid eyes. Stupid Naru. Damn secrets. Damn psychics. Damn rejection.

Really, it is all Naru's fault when you think on it.

I get the rejection, I do—and the timing was wrong anyway. But he's leaving. Sure, I feel like punching him instead of cuddling him (though that's still a farfetched idea even if he recuperated my feelings), but at least I told him.

Him or Gene….

Can't I just punch both and move on to somebody else? Like with Yasu or something? That would be easy. Though, I can't really imagine a relationship like that with Yasu. He's a great friend, and I'm sure he'd be a great lover, but… Even if he's joking half the time, I'm still not sure whether he really wants in a girl's bed or in Monk's sheets…

Gene… The boy in my dreams. Not of my dreams, dammit, he's just in them. A lot. That almost upsets me. He was able to get into my head, literally, for almost a year and a quarter and I had been calling him by his brother's name. Considering how Naru phrased his rejection… and Naru and Gene being twins…. It must have hurt, at least a little. There's no way it didn't.

If I could, I think I'd change things. Let Gene live. Save him. I won't say 'what's the worst that could happen' because experience says a whole freaking lot can happen that can be classified as 'worst' and it usually gets worse anyway.

But Gene… he didn't deserve death. His family didn't deserve grief. None of them deserved to lose him, including Gene himself. And no deserves having to work for Gene's narcissist brother on a Monday.

Content with my little joke, and the strangely cold breeze brushing hair away from my face like a parent would a child's, I fell asleep with the thoughts of the brothers filling my head.

_**STEPS**_

If you ever want to know what strange is, imagine walking on what should be scruffy asphalt and yet not making a single sound. I knew instantly it was a dream. It couldn't be the schoolhouse children, they got purified by me—a fact none of SPR believe. Heck, I wouldn't either if I wasn't there. But I was, and so was Gene.

Gene….

Road…

It's dark…

Too dark…

Don't tell me…!

Am I about to witness Gene's death?

That's when I spotted the person in question. Gene. Why the heck would he think wearing black next to a dark road was a good idea?

Suddenly, I felt a rush in my ankles. A fox crossed the road, going through me to get to the other side. It reminded me quite fully of the fact I couldn't do anything but watch. I didn't want to, but I somehow still ended up walking beside Gene. I matched my breathing to his, mostly to remind me that he was alive at this point and also of the fact that I still need to breathe myself. I distanced myself after a while, as a way of almost respect for his lonely but seemingly comfortable last moments before… before…

…I heard the car far before I could see it, and Gene froze up. Before either of us knew it, a car was almost upon us both. It would go through me, but Gene…. Gene….

I knew it wouldn't have any affect, but….

Against everything Gene and experience ever taught me, I started running towards the black-clad boy. A strange feeling overwhelmed me, but I pushed on. It was almost like the vision had nearly stopped and I was trying to break through a film. I broke it, somehow, I think, but then felt like a cold shower went over me and yet filled me up, warming up when it came inside of me and filled like a jar. Regardless of the cold shower feeling, I also felt completely dry.

The next feeling was that of a small Japanese girl slamming into the body of a skinny Japanese boy and both falling into the shrubs that, as it turns out, have freaking thorns.

"That hurt… wait…." I blinked at myself. "That hurt…?"

"Ow," I heard a voice say as a rumble went through the ground below me. Or what _would_ be the ground, if a dark-clad idiot walking at night without a flashlight wasn't in the way.

Wait… was this Gene…?

Oh god, it was Gene.

Did I just change a vision?

… Monk's gonna be pissed if Ayako doesn't kill me first.

I thought of what I could possibly say to leave a first impression.

"Uh…"

Great first impression, Mai. Really. Very smart.

"Hello…?" Gene said, his eyes blinking owlishly at me. I realized I was still on top of him and jumped off.

Gene brushed himself off and stood, and, after a moment of hesitation, extended a hand to help me up.

"So, uh…." I said as I grasped his hand and set myself in a state of somewhat order. "I'm Mai."

Gene blinked. "Eugene. Call me Gene. So, do you run into people about to be hit by cars often, or…?"

"Oh!" I said. "I'm sorry, I just… it's a long story… Sorry. Are you okay?"

"You just saved my life, probably. I'm fine. What about you?" Gene asked. "Are you alright?"

"Me?" I almost laughed. "I'm fine. But, uh, quick question…"

"Um, sure?" Gene said, unsure.

"Why are you wearing such dark clothes, while walking next to a road, at night, with no flashlight or obnoxious yet useful reflector sticker? Sure, you'll look lame but cars will actually know that you're there."

Gene looked a little sheepish as the tip of his ears colored a little in the (lack of) light. "Well, I live in England, and I like my cultural roots… I don't get to connect with them much. So combine that with my like of the color black and suddenly I'm dressing like a ninja."

"…." I didn't really have a response. It made sense, but _what._

Then I thought of something. If I'm actually here, and not in some screwed up version of the astral plane, then how the heck am I gonna get home? And what about those cases? We—I—will need to solve them all over again.

… Crap.

Note to self. Stop saving your boss's twin brother. You end up screwing stuff up.

This was going to suck.

_**STEPS**_

**Yeah, I kinda have an idea about where I'm going with this, but if I don't… I'll just apologize now for the mess I'll probably make (why oh why did I think a story with time travel was going to be organized?!).**

**Until next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**So I solved my issue with technology. In other words, I totally let it die in a corner then revived it. It works now. Unfortunately, school likes to get in the way of things, and the holidays are way too hectic for anything good writing wise.**

**Anyway, I don't own Ghost Hunt and I hope you continue enjoying this story!**

**ENJOY?!**

_**STEPS**_

"So…. Uh…." Gene said, looking a little lost as to what to do next.

"Uh… So I'm Mai Taniyama… Yeah, um… Weren't you going somewhere…?" I said.

Gene's eyes lit up, finally finding something to talk about. "Nice to meet you, Taniyama. Yeah, there's a village nearby. They wanted some help on some… problems they've been having."

"The village?" I asked. They gave us our last case… If I went back in time, or whatever, then the case wasn't solved… and Gene's a spiritual medium. A fairly famous spiritual medium at that. Of course they'd tried to contact him if they knew a certain spiritual celebrity name Eugene Davis was in the vicinity. "Are you going there for the schoolhouse case?"

The supposed-to-be-dead-right-now twin gave me a weird look. "Yes… Did they contact you too?"

"Not… exactly," I said. "It's a bit of a long story, and you probably wouldn't believe me."

"Really?" Gene seemed to take that as a challenge. "Try me."

I sighed. "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you. First of all, what's today's date, year and all?"

Gene gave me another weird look, but rattled off the complete date. "But what does that have to do with the village?"

"Well," I said. Here goes nothing. "Long story short, I'm kinda… from the future."

"…" Gene stared.

"…" I stared back.

"… You're not kidding, are you?" Gene said.

"Unfortunately, no," I said. "And in that future… I met your brother."

"You've met Noll?" Gene said. It took me a moment, but I recognized the weird nickname for Oliver that sounded a suspicious lot like 'Naru'. "The idiot scientist I call a twin brother Noll?"

"The very same. Though, I call him Naru," I explained.

"Naru?" Gene quirked an eyebrow.

"Narcissist," I deadpanned.

Gene wrinkled his nose. "Why are you insulting me? I am _not_ a narcissist. Noll, however…"

"That's what I _meant_," I sighed. "Naru is short for narcissist."

Gene gave a rather loud snort of laughter. "Why the hell did I not think of that? That's _priceless._" Gene continued to laugh and I couldn't help but feel a tug at the corners of my mouth.

"Come on," I said, lightly hitting Gene on his arm. "We gotta get to the village."

"Right, right," Gene started leading the way, still laughing as he did so, and I followed quietly. He sobered up after a minute or two. "So, you do know my brother at least a bit. But that doesn't mean I believe you about the time travel."

I sighed and said, "I figured as much."

"Regardless, you know _something,_ so what do you know about this village's case?" Gene asked.

I tried to think back to the case I—we?—had to resolve. And just after SPR solved it too! "Well, the villagers did not tell us the whole story, and I'm guessing they didn't tell you either. Every few months or something a person would go missing, but they stopped reporting it after a while. All of the bodies were found in the schoolhouse."

"Woah," Gene whistled.

"Yeah, and it gets worse. The culprits are this class that died in a landslide during a field trip when their bus got buried. Really, it's the teacher orchestrating the whole thing to keep the children happy. Right now, they're all gaki."

"Wow. How did it get solved?" Gene asked.

I flushed a little. "Uh…" I didn't want to tell Gene that he _died, _not just yet anyway. He didn't believe me as is. _Hi, I'm Mai Taniyama, your brother's assistant from two years in the future. We solved cases and such. By the way, you were supposed to die. Oops._ Yeah, that would go over so well.

"…Taniyama?" Gene prodded at my lack of response.

"Oh, sorry," I said. "… To put it in the simplest terms possible… My, uh, spirit guide… guy… whoever helped me. Got me to do a cleansing I think, though all I really did was talk."

"But the spirits heard you," Gene sounded impressed. "And they listened. Impressive. You have a spirit guide?"

_Yep, and I'm talking to him. Surprise job promotion!_ "Yeah, I did."

Gene noticed my past tense. "Did?"

I shrugged. "Or I guess the correct term would be 'will have' since I'm not from this time… And I don't think I'll actually, er, 'connect' with him again…"

"What do you mean?" Gene asked.

"It's…. complicated, to say the least. Freaking time travel," I said.

"I still don't believe you on that, you know," Gene said.

"I know, I wouldn't believe me either," I sighed. I spotted an oddly familiar cabin. "Hey, isn't that the campsite?"

Gene looked to where I was pointing. "Ah, so it is. It seems to be the campsite. I'm going to rent a cabin here during my stay. I hope they'll be okay with the late hour of my arrival…"

That's when I realized something.

_Where the hell am I going to stay? I don't even have any other clothes?_

"Taniyama?" Gene noticed my distressed face.

I sighed, irritated at myself. "Time travel sucks."

_**STEPS**_

It wasn't very hard to convince Gene that I seriously did not have anything on me other than my baggy shorts and collared shirt. I didn't even have any ID. In fact, other than my clothes, the only possession I seemed to have was my old house key. It also wasn't too difficult to convince him that I really wasn't from this area after we talked to the men in the head cabin.

It was significantly harder to secure some clothes to at least borrow in the meantime. Eventually, I secured some ridiculously frilly nightgown that I decided to burn at a later date, a small bag, a change of clothes, and, as a much appreciated bonus, a hair brush.

Gene let me share a cabin with him, and when I even so much as voiced trying to pay him back somehow later he would shush me immediately. Thankfully, this particular cabin had two bedrooms.

I was hoping to avoid Gene seeing the stupid nightgown.

No such luck.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Gene laughed as he saw me come out of the bedroom in the morning. I smelled breakfast and somewhat forgot the stupid frilly thing I wore for the night.

"Shut up!" I blushed. "I needed to wear something last night and this town is so not receptive to a girl with no possessions on her!"

"And so you kidnapped a little girl's lace curtain?" Gene asked.

I huffed. "You're just as bad as Monk," I mumbled to myself, too quiet for Gene to hear. "So are you making breakfast or what?"

Gene laughed again. "Yeah, after we eat and, in your case, change into actual clothes, we'll head to schoolhouse."

I get to be locked in a school building with Eugene Davis who, by the way, is DEFINITELY Naru's brother for who knows how long to solve a case all over again when yesterday, which was also technically around two years in the future, I had already cleansed the place….

...It's official. Time travel sucks.

_**STEPS**_

'**Time Travel Sucks' is pretty much gonna be Mai's motto. At the least, it was her motto for this particular chapter. And I have to agree. As much fun as it may seem at first, you'd eventually get a little homesick but your friends will be either their younger, less mature selves or not born at all, you'll just be missing random stuff in your room if it even **_**is**_** your room and yeah. Not fun.**

**And how do you even get back?**

**Yeah, no.**

**Question of the day! How would you react to Gene's situation? Or if someone just started talking about how they time traveled but somehow DID know random stuff about you? I, for one, probably would NOT react well…**

**I have a pretty great idea as to where this story is going, but as always, I'm always open to suggestions! **

**UNTIL NEXT TIME, FRIENDS!**


End file.
